If there is one thing the indie-alternative standard Spoon is good at, it’s making noise in the industry at the drop of the hat.
The group stays relatively quiet while not touring or releasing an album, but when word of a new project gets out, there is no lack of anticipation or accolades for the group.
This is precisely what happened last month when the group issued its latest release, “Hot Thoughts.” The group’s ninth studio album is a bold statement that, despite the length of its career, the band is by no means losing its edge.
Photo courtesy: The Lyric Oxford
“We look at it almost as a continuation of ‘They Want My Soul,’” Jim Eno, the group’s drummer, said. “The last song we worked on [on ‘They Want My Soul’] was ‘Inside Out.’ We love that song. We love the direction of it. It’s a cool song to play live. It also has an interesting sonic palette, which is pretty interesting for us. So, subconsciously or consciously, we sort of continued from that kind of sound.”
The group made a conscious effort to pursue a more futuristic feel on “Hot Thoughts,” and it is the first Spoon record to not feature an acoustic guitar.
At the time Eno spoke with The Daily Mississippian, the group was in the middle of intense preparations for its national tour promoting “Hot Thoughts,” an interesting experience for the band, given its unique creative process.
“We’ve been working up some new songs on the record, and I think we’re pretty much ready to lay about eight of the 10, which is cool,” Eno said. “We tend to work hard to try to represent the songs live. We don’t usually play the songs out a lot before we record them, so it has been interesting to work up our recorded material.”
Hailing from Austin, Texas, Spoon is no stranger to resonating with Southern crowds, especially in a place like Oxford. However, Eno emphasized there is no geographical litmus test to Spoon’s genre. He said the band’s rock and roll sound translates well to most audiences the band sees.
“I feel like Oxford is a really good music town,” Eno said. “There has been a lot of good music that has come out of there, and I feel like our music is pretty universal. We like to play smaller places, too. We get to experience the city a little bit more and meet people. So, yeah, we are looking forward to it.”
As “Hot Thoughts” comes as Spoon’s ninth studio album, the group is dangerously close to approaching legendary status. While some might feel like a band of their status has “figured the industry out,” Eno is not convinced there even is such a thing.
“I don’t think there is really a secret,” Eno said. “I think the only thing you can do as a band is play music, write music, perform music that you really believe in. A lot of what it comes down to in music is being in the right place at the right time and having someone hear your music. There is no one silver bullet for it.”
Spoon takes the stage at 8 p.m. tonight at The Lyric Oxford. Tickets are currently on sale starting at $30.
